In 1724, Sébastien de Brossard hailed Jean-Baptiste Drouard de Bousset as ‘indisputably the best of our composer-authors’. Although, at the beginning of the 18th century, the Master of Music at the Académies des Sciences et des Inscriptions imposed himself as the unquestionable leader of the genre, his 875 airs sérieux are little known nowadays and deserve to be brought back into the light. Such is the desire of Elizabeth Dobbin and the ensemble Le Jardin Secret, who recreate with artistry and intelligence the ‘noble, pleasant and natural’ songs of the composer, described by Titon du Tillet in his Parnasse françois (1732). Reflecting the traditions of the 17th and 18th centuries, the musicians have included improvised passages in their performance of these airs and, in particular, chosen to accompany the voice with two theorbos and viola da gamba, instruments that Bousset owned when he died.

In Serieux Comme le Plaisir, two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group. As part of their play they tie the girl up, apparently leaving her behind, but she adamantly refuses to be rescued and heaps abuse on anyone who tries, including the hapless policeman. At some point she goes off with an Eastern monarch, leaving her lovers behind. She returns, and soon the trio is once again sniping at puzzled interlopers, playfully going about their business of confusing everyone. Later on in the film they are seen depositing their son at school where he is awaited by two young girls.

Two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group…

Two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group…